Antique Gorilla questions

[Pete Rowley]

I am finally getting close to hooking up my gorilla - permits secured, workshop built, 7 110v circuits wired, internal and external lights installed, walls mostly covered with white pegboard, 2 years later :eek:. I bought it before the super gorilla came out (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20888) - so from the specs I'm guessing it is a super gorilla equivalent now, it has the 2hp balder motor.

Couple of questions:

the motor is 11.5 amps, should I be using a 15 amp breaker or 20 amp?

my workshop is 12x20', would it be better to run the ducting all around the edge of the shop to minimize turns and longer branches (but use up valuable wall space) rather than branch across the ceiling, which is vaulted, or is my shop just too small to worry about such things?

Thanks

[Julio Navarro]

Every time I relate my motor to the breaker I am using I invariably hear, "the breaker is for the wire, not the motor"

[Geoff Harris]

I'm using 15 Amp breakers on mine, so far no problems.

Geoff.

[Pete Bradley]

15A should be sufficient. You might also consider a starter with overload protection at the motor sized to the motor amperage.

Pete

[Frank Fusco]

So! Wassagorilla? Bet it can't whup my Grizzly. :D

[Charlie Plesums]

15 amp breaker may work, but I would wire for 20 amps. All household circuits these days are 20 amps, and a lot of machines expect 20 amp circuits. A full 2 hp motor drawing full power will be pretty close to 20 amps load (and far over 20 amps when it starts up). The cost should be about the same as 15 amps, and it may also give future flexibility if you rearrange.

[Frank Fusco]

OK, restated without the funnies. What is a Gorilla?
It helps to know what you are talking about if you state what you are talking about.

[Larry Browning]

OK, restated without the funnies. What is a Gorilla?
It helps to know what you are talking about if you state what you are talking about. Frank,
It is a cyclone dust collector from Oneida (http://www.oneida-air.com/gorilla_family2.htm). Many of us here at SMC have one.

[Frank Fusco]

Frank,
It is a cyclone dust collector from Oneida (http://www.oneida-air.com/gorilla_family2.htm). Many of us here at SMC have one.

Thanks, now I (and possibly many others) know what the discussion is all about.

[Pete Rowley]

Thanks for all the replies :)

Julio, I hear ya, I have run 20amp/12 guage wire throughout my shop and I was planning on doing the same for the gorilla - so 20 amp it is :)

Pete, I think the magnetic switch that came with the Gorilla has overload protection and I shall be setting that as the manual instructs.

Frank, a gorilla is a big hairy ape with the strength of ten men, I doubt your grizzly could cope with it :) Sorry I wasn't clear - I've been on forced leave of woodworking and the last time I was here I doubt there was a single reader who wouldn't have known what I meant. My mistake :)

Charlie, I guess the issue is moot given Julios advice, but are you talking about a 110v motor? This is 240v. I ask because I know enough about this stuff to be dangerous (wiring my shop was my FIRST wiring job, a first among many) so I think it is best to make sure I understand :)

[Mark Rios]

Pete. I'm gonna throw this out here and I apologize if you've already addressed this but.........

Did you use 20 amp receptacles along with your 12 gauge wire? Normally, the 50 cent recepts are 15 amp. 20 amp recepts have one of the blade holes with a verticle slot AND a horizontal slot (the left blade slot IIRC, the wider one) and the other one is a standard, single, verticle slot (ovbviously the ground is there on the bottom). They usually cost a couple bucks apiece.

Every once in a while I've had an existing 15 amp recept get quite hot while using a higher amp tool for an extended period. For workshop, they really should be 20 amp receptacles.

Just a thought. I apologize again if you have already addressed this.

[Mike Cutler]

Every time I relate my motor to the breaker I am using I invariably hear, "the breaker is for the wire, not the motor"

From High School Electrical Shop in 1974-75." The purpose of the National Electrical Code is to protect and maintain the integerity of the conductor". Maybe not an exact quote, but I promise it's close enough to the correct answer on the test in 1974.:D :D ;)

Sorry Julio. It's late and I'm on swing shifts this week.
:eek:

[Pete Rowley]

Did you use 20 amp receptacles along with your 12 gauge wire? Normally, the 50 cent recepts are 15 amp. 20 amp recepts have one of the blade holes with a verticle slot AND a horizontal slot (the left blade slot IIRC, the wider one) and the other one is a standard, single, verticle slot (ovbviously the ground is there on the bottom). They usually cost a couple bucks apiece.


Mark that is a good point, and yes I did! :)